The Bronze
“So are you ready to bag it or what?” Buffy called to Willow over the music, who sat with her hand in Oz’s. “I think I’ve seen enough of Xander dancing to last me the entire month. He looks like he’s having an all-over body spasm.”
“He’s not so bad,” Oz offered. “Once you get over that whole no rhythm thing.” Willow and Buffy smiled at that. Oz gave Willow a kiss on the cheek.
Buffy waved to Cordelia, who seemed just as happy to drag Xander off of the dance floor. They headed towards the doors, Xander still doing his best to imitate a man trying to regurgitate himself in his attempts at dancing. Cordelia finally put a stop to that by draping his arm around her waist and whispering something in his ear. He settled down immediately.
Once they were outside, Buffy turned towards them. “Look, you guys really don’t need to patrol with me. I’ll be fine. Honest. You see how dead everything is lately, pardon the pun.”
“It’s okay,” Willow said. She and Oz continued walking. “You know what they say: The family that slays together, stays together. Or something along those lines. You get the idea.”
“Yep,” Xander seconded. “Besides, it’s easier on you this way. If we stay in a neat little pack, you don’t have to do a lot of running to save our lives.” Cordelia elbowed him in the ribs. “Kidding!”
“Okay, but stay close,” she warned and moved forward to take the point.
The patrol had relaxed a bit by the time they cruised by the cemetery. Buffy had dropped back to talk with Willow and the rest. Xander cracked a joke that had everyone laughing and Buffy began to relax. It looked like tonight would be as quiet as all the others of the past several weeks.
At least until a fledgling vampire came hurtling out of the cemetery gates to land hard on the pavement by Buffy’s feet. An aggravated female voice issued from inside the cemetery, “You know, you guys are really beginning to piss me off!” The fallen vampire picked himself up, growled once at the group of teens, and headed back into the cemetery.
“Stay here,” Buffy ordered, pulled a stake from her jacket, and ran after him.
“Like hell,” was Xander’s response. Armed with a stake of his own, he followed Buffy.
“What, now you’re carrying too?” Cordelia asked as she caught up with him.
“I believe in being prepared. Sometimes. Now shut up and stay close.”
Willow looked at Oz, who shrugged. They brought up the rear.
Inside the Cemetery—
Buffy counted four vampires, including the one she had followed in. The remaining three were circling around a young woman in her early twenties, who did not appear the least put off about fighting creatures with ridges and fangs where ordinary faces should be. The Slayer watched as the stranger lashed out with a spinning hook kick that caught one of the vampires square across the face and dropped him. From the force behind that kick, only a vampire could have survived and not suffered a broken neck.
The vampire who’d been thrown launched himself at the stranger, slamming her to the ground in a vicious flying tackle. The other two left standing looked on and waited for an opening.
“Does this mean you don’t want to play with *me*,” Buffy asked innocently, before slamming her fist into the nearest vampire’s face. The two turned to face her and she took up her ready stance.
“We’ve got your back,” Xander said from behind her. She spared a quick glance behind her and saw the entire Scooby Gang at her back.
“Why can’t you ever do what you’re told!” She dodged a blow from Vamp 1, returning the sentiment with a roundhouse kick. “Go help her,” Buffy said, jerking her head in the stranger’s direction.
Xander followed her instructions and headed towards the two shapes wrestling on the ground. His help proved immaterial however, once the stranger planted her feet against the vampire’s chest. She kicked out and sent him sailing into the side of a nearby mausoleum, where he slid down the stone wall and lay still. She climbed to her feet and took stock of the situation.
The vampire she’d kicked was slowly coming around. The stranger looked around and spotted Xander, who stared with his mouth half-open and a stake in his hand. She walked up to him, took the stake, and closed his mouth with her finger. “Thanks.” Turning, she staked the dazed vampire in the chest, waiting until he turned to dust before returning the stake to Xander.
“Uh, yeah, sure. No problem,” he stuttered.
Buffy was holding her own against the other two, but her movements were hindered by the fact that she had to keep herself between them and Willow, Oz, and Cordelia. As she high-kicked Vamp 2, the other ran inside her guard and made a grab for Cordelia. The girl jumped backwards and screamed, but Buffy had her hands full fighting off her own vampire. Oz leapt onto the attacking vamp’s back, but fell to the ground when the vamp shook him off. Willow ran to help, but stopped as Xander grabbed her arm.
The vampire had almost closed on Cordelia when the stranger struck him from behind with a headstone she had yanked from a nearby grave. The blow leveled him, knocking the vampire out cold. The stranger held out her hand for the stake, rolled the vampire over and slammed the wood into his chest.
Buffy had hit her vampire with a combination of punches that left him reeling. She knocked his arms wide and drove in with her stake. The vampire exploded, leaving Buffy shaking dust from her clothes. She went over to join the others.
Xander was helping Cordelia to her feet and was looking at the stranger warily. Willow and Oz had backed away and seemed to look at everything but her. Something about this young woman gave them the wiggins badly. Buffy turned her full attention towards the stranger. She looked like every other young twenty-something: long dark hair, green eyes, pale features, dressed in jeans, boots, a black t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. What didn’t compute were the facts that her green eyes were glowing in the moonlight, and that she had a couple of extra inches of canine teeth to deal with, which seemed to be shrinking even as Buffy watched.
Before Buffy could do more than stare, the stranger spoke. “I’m Leonora. And wait, let me guess. You must be the Slayer.”
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